65 protesters arrested after blocking I-83

Group moved through Artscape before blocking expressway

Several dozens of people were arrested Saturday after they blocked traffic along Interstate 83 in Baltimore, police said. The group started and Guilford and Chase before moving through Artscape and then down the Charles Street ramp to interstate, where they locked arms and blocked traffic along the northbound side of the highway, police said. Soon after, officers began making arrests and detained more than 20 protesters. The ramp to I-83 outside Artscape was already closed for the festival.

Sixty-five people, including 10 minors, were arrested Saturday after they blocked traffic along Interstate 83 in Baltimore, police said.

The group started and Guilford and Chase before moving through Artscape and then down the Charles Street ramp to interstate, where they locked arms and blocked traffic along the northbound side of the highway, police said.

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Soon after, officers began making arrests and detained protesters. Those arrested will be charged with failure to obey and Illegally walking on a highway, police said.

The ramp to I-83 outside Artscape was already closed for the festival.

The protest was called Afromation, which protester Lawrence Brown said is "an affirmation of black life in the face of so much black death." The protest was also organized in response to the police-involved shooting deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling last week.

"Traffic and the highways are the arteries that sort of move the blood of a city, and so we're standing in the middle of the city to sort of let the body of the city know, let Baltimore City as a body know, something is not right," Brown said.

Brown said about 50 people were part of the protest, and he said the group wants laws to change and more police accountability.

Police said more information is pending once those arrested are processed through Central Booking.